| − | '''The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History''' is a science, nature and cultural history museum established in 1961 at 3233 Briarcrest Drive in [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]], [[Texas]]. Its collections are in the fields of [[archaeology]], [[botany]], conchology (sea shells), cultural history, [[geology]], mammalogy, ornithology, and [[paleontology]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brazosvalleymuseum.org/|title=Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History|publisher=Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History|accessdate=June 1, 2020}}</ref> | + | '''The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History''' is a science, nature and cultural history museum established in 1961 at 3233 Briarcrest Drive in [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]], [[Texas]]. Its collections are in the fields of [[archaeology]], [[botany]], conchology (sea shells), cultural history, [[geology]], mammalogy, ornithology, and [[paleontology]].<ref name=museum>{{cite web|url=https://www.brazosvalleymuseum.org/|title=Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History|publisher=Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History|accessdate=June 1, 2020}}</ref> |
| | The museum sought to display one of the four [[space shuttle]] orbiters to its collection. The orbiters were made available by [[NASA]] at the conclusion of the space shuttle program.<ref>"Shuttle might dock at campus," [[''Bryan-College Station Eagle'']], July 10, 2010.</ref> Former [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], whose presidential library is in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]] several miles from the museum, expressed his support.<ref>"Bush support for shuttle," George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, You-Tube presentation no longer online.</ref> Museum officials were initially positive about their chances to be selected with the museum executive directory saying, ""I definitely think that we are going to get one of the shuttles,"<ref>{{cite web|name=Nell GreenfieldBoyce|title=NASA's Next Mission: Finding Homes For Shuttles|url=http://www.npr.org/2011/03/09/134358888/nasas-next-mission-finding-homes-for-shuttles|publisher=National Public Radio|date=March 9, 2011|accessdate=June 1, 2020}}</ref> but in the end, the Bryan museum was not among those selected to receive an orbiter or simulators. Instead, nearby [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]] was selected to receive a full motion shuttle simulator used by astronauts in training.<ref>"No Shuttle in Brazos Valley, but Shuttle Simulator on the Way," KBTX-TV ([[CBS]] in Bryan, Texas), date unavailable; no longer accessible on-line.</ref> | | The museum sought to display one of the four [[space shuttle]] orbiters to its collection. The orbiters were made available by [[NASA]] at the conclusion of the space shuttle program.<ref>"Shuttle might dock at campus," [[''Bryan-College Station Eagle'']], July 10, 2010.</ref> Former [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], whose presidential library is in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]] several miles from the museum, expressed his support.<ref>"Bush support for shuttle," George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, You-Tube presentation no longer online.</ref> Museum officials were initially positive about their chances to be selected with the museum executive directory saying, ""I definitely think that we are going to get one of the shuttles,"<ref>{{cite web|name=Nell GreenfieldBoyce|title=NASA's Next Mission: Finding Homes For Shuttles|url=http://www.npr.org/2011/03/09/134358888/nasas-next-mission-finding-homes-for-shuttles|publisher=National Public Radio|date=March 9, 2011|accessdate=June 1, 2020}}</ref> but in the end, the Bryan museum was not among those selected to receive an orbiter or simulators. Instead, nearby [[Texas A&M University]] in [[College Station, Texas|College Station]] was selected to receive a full motion shuttle simulator used by astronauts in training.<ref>"No Shuttle in Brazos Valley, but Shuttle Simulator on the Way," KBTX-TV ([[CBS]] in Bryan, Texas), date unavailable; no longer accessible on-line.</ref> |
| − | Its fossil cllection includes a 15-inch Paleozoic trilobite and complete skeletons of an [[Ice Age]] cave [[bear]], early [[wolf]], [[Sabre-toothed cat|sabre-toothed cat]], along with numerous other partial skeletons. [[Dinosaur]]s are represented by the skull, vertebrae, femur, arm, an enormous tail of a hadrosaurid specimen, teeth, and various bones of a [[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]. The hosaurid tail is unique for its fossilized skin.The museum maintains memberships in the American Alliance of Museums, the Natural Science Collections Alliance, and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. | + | Its fossil cllection includes a 15-inch Paleozoic trilobite and complete skeletons of an [[Ice Age]] cave [[bear]], early [[wolf]], [[Sabre-toothed cat|sabre-toothed cat]], along with numerous other partial skeletons. [[Dinosaur]]s are represented by the skull, vertebrae, femur, arm, an enormous tail of a hadrosaurid specimen, teeth, and various bones of a [[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]. The hosaurid tail is unique for its fossilized skin.The museum maintains memberships in the American Alliance of Museums, the Natural Science Collections Alliance, and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections.<ref name=museum/> |